What are we?

The Internet BMW Riders, or IBMWR, is an international BMW motorcycle club that meets 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the Internet. The club is based on and held together by electronic mail lists dedicated to discussing BMW motorcycles.

What are the mailing lists?

The main mailing list is like an electronic campfire at a rally for BMW motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Other lists focus on technical issues, or the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America club, and they have fewer email messages per day. The mainstay of the club is the main list.

Every day, somewhere between 20 and 50 (or more) email messages from individual members are distributed to every other member of the main list. Some people receive each message as a separate email; others elect to receive bundles of messages packaged together as a single digest.

If you join the IBMWR by subscribing to one of the lists, you'll read discussions on technical issues like repairs and custom modifications, product reviews, dealer reviews, trip reports of all kinds, meetings all over the world, and hundreds of other topics (including a monthly email on how to unsubscribe). You'll also see that the list is a free, readily-available source of help and information for your BMW-related problems and mysteries.

How does it work?

The BMW mailing list is run on a computer at an Internet service provider (The World, out of Brookline, MA) by a group of volunteers. When a member sends a message to a mailing list email address at ibmwr.org, our service provider automatically forwards it, with some special mail header changes to all other members of the group. So everyone who subscribes to a mailing list receives every mail sent to that list.

These mailing lists are semi-moderated, meaning that the list owner/administrator can control the messages that pass but usually don't. Moderation tends to remind people to be moderate: to keep discussions on-topic and not to take themselves, their email, or others' email too seriously.

Other services

Our web site is full of information that is freely available to all. We have links to BMW dealers and independent mechanics, providers of equipment and services, other clubs, and most importantly, our tech pages and our marketplace. Here you will find many dozens of articles on how to maintain and upgrade your BMW motorcycle, and hundreds of listings for bikes, parts and apparel for sale.

How did it start, and who is in charge?

The IBMWR mailing list was started in 1993 by Joe Senner, who is still the list owner and administrator. At first, just a few dozen folks participated, but the number of subscribers grew quickly. The club started soon after, and is chartered by both the BMWMOA and BMWRA. At the end of 1999, there were about 1600 Presidents scattered all around the world, and membership has varied from 1500 to 2700 ever since.

No one is really "in charge", but all services are maintained and run by a group of volunteers. All subscribers to the mailing list are, by default, IBMWR Presidents. If you want to help, and have some web site administration skills, please let us know!

Operating costs and donations

There are NO DUES OR FEES for using the list. Joe and our volunteer administrators are personally responsible for all the costs involved with providing the list. It is, as Joe says, truly a labor of love. However, you are welcome to help out with the expenses associated with running these lists and web site. As a club, we maintain a checking account. This account is used to help cover the cost of running the lists, provide seed money for club projects (T-shirt printing, for example), and make occasional donations to injured bikers, memorial funds, and stuff like that. These lists and web site cost about $100 per month to operate.